A Chinese man suspected of attacking an elderly woman with a lethal weapon at a Catholic church in Jeju was arrested seven hours after the attack on Saturday, police said.

The Jeju Seobu Police Station said they will soon seek a court-issued warrant to formally arrest the 50-year-old man identified only by his family name Chen on attempted murder charges.

The Korean woman, identified only by her surname Kim, was in critical condition.

He was hiding at an unidentified place in Seoguipo on the southern resort island of Jeju when police nabbed him at about 4 p.m.

Chen confessed to the crime to the police and briefly answered "Sorry" when asked by reporters how he felt as he was taken to the police station.

The man fled the scene of the incident after inflicting multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen of the 61-year-old woman who was praying inside a Catholic church in Jeju alone at about 8:45 a.m., the police said. The type of weapon used was not specified.

The Chinese man entered the country as a tourist under the transit-without-visas program on Wednesday and was scheduled to leave on Thursday, next week.  

Police were trying to investigate the motive behind the attack.

Chen said, during the police questioning, that he came to have a deep hatred toward women after his first and second wives ran away from home, having extramarital affairs. "When I saw a woman praying alone at a church, the thoughts of the wives suddenly flashed through my mind and I attacked her out of anger."

He also told the police that he visited the church to repent his sins because it was close to where he spent nights.

But police say more investigation is needed to determine exactly what drove him to attack her because he already had the weapon in his bag when he infiltrated the church.

They found that the man visited the same church two to three more times after purchasing the weapon in Jeju.

Police also said they have secured a CCTV image of the suspect sneaking into the church at about 8:45 a.m. and running out of it three minutes later.

Police said they had narrowed their dragnet to Chinese nationals since finding a pair of Chinese-brand shoes and pants at the scene. They also found the weapon used in the crime there.

"We're looking into whether the attack was accidental or premeditated because he came to the church carrying a lethal weapon," said Park Gi-nam, chief of the Jeju Seobu Police Station. "We're also planning to come up with measures to support the victim." (Yonhap)